GAZA, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Israeli tank shells killed at least two Palestinians and wounded 20 in the Gaza Strip on Saturday after an apparent attack on an Israeli army patrol along the Israel-Gaza border, Palestinian medics and local eyewitnesses said.

The casualty toll is one of the highest in a single incident in Gaza in recent months.

Ambulances and private vehicles rushed the wounded to hospital, local eyewitnesses said. The identity of the wounded was not immediately known.

The Israeli military declined immediate comment on the incident.

The attack took place during a period of increased tension at the Israel-Gaza frontier, with militants often firing rockets at Israel which has launched aerial raids targeting Palestinian gunmen.

The Gaza Strip, a coastal territory crowded with more than 1.5 million people, many of them refugees, is controlled by Hamas Islamists who reject Israel's existence. (Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi; Writing by Ori Lewis in Jerusalem; Editing by Sophie Hares)